Year-long wait as scrapped wheel is rebuilt

Michael Bachelard

MOST of Docklands' massive ferris wheel has been sold for scrap and it is being rebuilt from scratch to a new design, leaving the struggling precinct without a centrepiece for at least another 10 months.

The rebuilding process began in a factory in South Dandenong only two weeks ago, and another year is likely to pass before the Southern Star Observation Wheel, which will retain the original stand and capsules, turns again.

In the meantime, the shop owners and restaurateurs who were lured to the Harbour Town retail development with promises of a million passing tourists a year continue to struggle.

In the week before Christmas, while the city and suburban shopping malls were clogged in the Yuletide shopping frenzy, Harbour Town was all but deserted despite its traders offering up to 75 per cent off retail prices.

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Some retailers who spoke anonymously to The Sunday Age said they were disillusioned, faced financial difficulties and were frustrated at being kept in the dark about the progress of the wheel rebuilding project.

But almost a year after the $100 million wheel's unexpected closure on January 30, nobody has yet sued.

The wheel's Japanese designer, Sanoyas Hishino Meisho, has accepted responsibility for the cracks that appeared in the 40-storey-high structure and is rebuilding it under warranty. The company has made a provision of 2.9 billion yen ($A35 million) in its accounts to pay for it, although it would not confirm to The Sunday Age whether that would cover the full cost, saying it ''covers most charges,'' but ''also includes other charges''. Sources close to the project claim it will cost much more.

The precinct owner, ING Real Estate Developments, has insisted those involved in building the wheel, including consulting engineers Arup, steel builder Alfasi and construction consultant Hansen Yuncken, sign confidentiality agreements to prevent them from commenting publicly.

As for the retailers, some are said to have made deals with ING, on an individual basis, which allegedly include free or minimal rent to help them survive the lean times. Two have entered mediation, and a small number have quit the precinct.

But most, it seems, have faith that the wheel will, eventually, deliver what it initially promised.

ING chief executive Greg Boyd expressed frustration at events but insisted that, when it was reopened, Southern Star would be a huge success. The recent opening of Costco, the extension of the City Circle tourist tram to the precinct, and the imminent opening of the Olympic ice rink, Icehouse, were already attracting thousands to the area, he said.